Barbs fly as Congress, BJP, AAP get into election mode

New Delhi: Congress and BJP on Saturday got into full election mode, attacking each other on the issue of corruption even as Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit dared the Opposition to produce "proof" to substantiate its charges of graft against her government.
Aam Aadmi Party, which has promised to give a tough fight in the December 4 polls, said that, if voted to power, it would hold a special Assembly session at Ramlila ground on December 29 to adopt the Janlokpal Bill.

A day after Election Commission announced the date for the Assembly polls, Dikshit, BJP president Vijay Goel and AAP`s Arvind Kejriwal addressed separate press conferences where they attacked each other on various issues, including corruption.

Accusing Delhi government of "massive corruption", Goel referred to reports of the Sunglu committee, CAG and CVC on alleged irregularities in the implementation of Commonwealth Games projects.

"We will take up these scams from time to time. When the BJP government comes, we will give all the proof from these files to Sheila Dikshit," Goel said.

Earlier, Dikshit challenged BJP and AAP to provide "proof" to back their charges and accused the two parties of misleading the people in order to win the Assembly polls.

In a sharp attack on BJP and AAP, Dikshit said neither party had an alternative agenda for the capital`s development and exuded confidence for a fourth straight victory in the December 4 electoral battle.

"Both BJP and AAP have been defaming us by alleging that there has been corruption in our government. If you have come across cases of corruption, then please tell us where is the corruption. Nobody becomes corrupt if you keep repeating the charges. I challenge them to give us proof of graft. We will take action," she said.

The Chief Minister said that neither BJP nor AAP had "policies and vision" for the city.

In his press conference, Kejriwal said Congress and BJP are "two faces of the same coin" and accused both parties of campaigning against AAP.

"The elections this time is also going to be bipolar. But instead of Congress and BJP being the two poles, this time, Congress and BJP are one pole while AAP is the other," he said, adding that if it were not the case, then why had BJP not protested against the hike in power tariff.

Asked whether Anna Hazare will campaign for his party and candidates, Kejriwal said he had made it clear that the anti-corruption activist was not going to campaign for him or his party.

AAP has announced candidates for 57 of the 70 Assembly seats ahead of the December 4 elections.